61. Particularly in “Marcus Antonius,” page 161.
63. “Marcus Antonius,” p. 119. Skeat.
64. “Marcus Antonius,” p. 164. Skeat.
65. Pescetti throughout this scene follows Appian rather than Plutarch. Appian says: “Some thought that Antony ought to be killed also because he was consul with Caesar, and was his most powerful friend, and the one of the most repute with the army; but Brutus said that they would win the glory of tyrannicide from the death of Caesar alone, because that would be the killing of a king. If they should kill his friends also, the deed would be imputed to private enmity and to the Pompeian faction.” (Civil Wars, Bk. II, Ch. XVI., White’s Trans.)
66. This parallel is noted by Ayres (in work cited before).
67. Noted by Ayres.
68. Substantially the same in Appian.
69. Marcus Brutus, p. 117–118.
70. J. C., Act. III., Sc. I, ll. 14–27.
72. In the monograph to which reference has already been made.
74. Compare Antony’s outburst:
75. This is a detail which Pescetti derived from Appian’s “Civil Wars,” Bk. II., Ch. XVI., wherein it is stated that the conspirators had to hasten, as Caesar contemplated departing for Parthia within four days and would thereupon have a bodyguard. (White’s translation, p. 176.)
77. I., ii. 199.
79.
80. He taught grammar and rhetoric in Verona. See Gerini, “Gli scrittori pedagogici nel secolo decimo settimo.”
81. Paolo Beni was quick to seize upon this feature of Pescetti’s characterization of Caesar. He says: “Che se pur volesse alcuno che non perciò restasse suo Cesare di esser furto, almen convien confessare ch’egli solo fosse vero Autore dell’ingiuria la quale con tanta sciocchezza e temerità fece in tal Tragedia a quell’Altezza et a tutta la serenissima Casa d’Este, poscia che havendo pubblicato e celebrato Alfonso per congiuntissimo di sangue con la Casa Giulia, e con Giulio Cesare, finalmente si adduce a dedicarli la sua Tragedia; (che sua chiamerolla per hora) quella Tragedia dico nella qual Cesare vien com’empio tiranno e traditor della patria bruttamente trucidato. Vedi imprudenza estrema di quest’huomo: vedi sciocchezza et audacia incomparabile: ricordare che questo serenissimo Principe sia per sangue strettamente congiunto con Giulio Cesare, e disceso da Giulio Cesare, e poi immantinente far che il Theatro per ogni parte risuoni l’impietà, la perfidia, la tirannia di Cesare: e che su gli occhi di quell’Altezza ne venga quasi pernitioso mostro co’l ferro trucidato et estinto. E forse che non supplica il Serenissimo Alfonso (vedi nuova imprudenza et ardire) che faccia rappresentar questa Tragedia in publico con nobil pompa, e dia spettacolo sì horrendo d’un suo antenato al Mondo.” Il Cavalcanti, 1614, p. 107 et seq.
82. It is interesting to note the fascination which this remark of Caesar’s had for the dramatists of his fortunes. No doubt they drew their direct inspiration from Plutarch, who relates that Caesar, on being urged to have a bodyguard, retorted, “It is better to die once, than always to be afraid of death.” (J. C., p. 92.) Skeat.
Thus Muretus says (Act III., verse 386):
And Grévin, Act III., v. 791:
Also Act I., v. 13:
In Garnier’s “Cornelie” (Kyd’s trans.) we read:
84. This is not the case in Muretus or Grévin, nor is it found in Plutarch.
85. True, the conspirators have suspected that the portents and the auspices might persuade him, and Trebonius has prepared for this. But how was Caesar to know?
86. I., ii, 182.
87. MacCallum, op. cit., p. 228.
88. “Shakespeare, A Critical Study of his Mind and Art,” by Edward Dowden, Harper & Bros., 1903, pp. 253–54.
89. E per non fare ora qui (che nè il luogo, nè l’occasione il ricerca) un catalogo di tutti, chi dell’ antico, ò del moderno secolo possiam noi trovare, che a Cesare somigli più, e faccia meglio parallelo di quel, che fa la Sereniss. Altezza Vostra? Sol che quelli fosse stato Cristiano, e avesse saputo contentarsi d’esser il primo della sua Città, senza voler esser anche della stessa Città più potente, ò Signor legittimo fosse suto; . . . “Cesare,” Dedication, p. 2.
90. In the classic drama it is not unusual for the Chorus to speak in the first person, but this instance is unique in Pescetti. It strikes the reader with all the force of an individual opinion of the author.
91. In the Prologue, Jove comforts Venus, saying:
92. As is well known, Plutarch nowhere condemns Brutus for his murder of Caesar. Appian, however, while he recognizes Brutus’ virtues, is strong in condemnation of his act. He says: “Against all these virtues and merits must be set down the crime against Caesar, which was not an ordinary or a small one, for it was committed unexpectedly against a friend, ungratefully against a benefactor who has spared them in war, and nefariously against the head of the state, in the senate house, against a pontiff clothed in his sacred vestments, against a ruler without an equal, who was most useful above all other men to Rome and its empire.” Civil Wars, White’s Trans., p. 381.
It is curious to note how Pescetti here abandons Appian in favor of Plutarch.
93. Just before the discussion concerning Antony, already quoted.
94. From these words the reader may believe that the conspirators feared that very courage of which Caesar himself proves deficient. But by courage, Cassius here means sheer physical bravery, an attribute which no reader either of Pescetti or of Shakespeare can deny him. The courage Caesar lacked was that of his own convictions. Like Macbeth, the known had no terrors for him, but like the Scottish king, he is confounded by the unseen. No Roman could have found fault with a man for heeding the warning of the gods. The historical Caesar, it is true, oft expressed his contempt for omens, while the Caesar of the drama professes to disregard them. But his disregard is superficial, and apparently the result of an attitude which we cannot but attribute to a belief in his own semi-divine being. Rather than be suspected of feelings common enough to ordinary mortals, Caesar deludes himself by a process of self-hypnotism, and is led to his doom, a victim of his lack of true courage, a sacrifice to his own inordinate vanity.
95. P. 24. Is this perhaps the hint from which Shakespeare built up the entire scheme of physical comparisons dwelt upon by Cassius? The swimming of the Tiber, for instance?
96. I., ii, 95.
97. I., ii, 308.
98. I., ii, 33–34.
99. I., ii, 89–90.
100. I., ii, 54–61.
101. I., iii, 157.
102. II., i, 90.
103. II., i, 321.
104. II., i, 332.
105. Probably because it involved a profanation of the sacred precincts of the Senate. But one might expect such an ardent patriot to regard Caesar’s death here as a very acceptable sacrifice to the gods he supposedly outraged. But see Appian.
106. II., i, 77.
107. II., i, 61.
108. II., i, 124.
110. III., i, 22.
111. V., i, 109.
112. P. 216–217, MacCallum.
113. The conclusion is irresistible that Pescetti was very much under the influence of Lucan. This is true not alone of the supernatural element, but also of the general attitude of Brutus and Cassius, who talk of Caesar very much in the spirit of the Pharsalia. In Book IX. Lucan describes how the soul of Pompey leaving the tomb soars to the abodes of the Blessed and thence looking down upon the earth inspires the breasts of Brutus and Cato. (Lines 1–23.)
116. In Muretus the case against Caesar is also weak. In Grévin, Brutus in his speech to the citizens makes definite charges:
117. There is no doubt that Pescetti found in Muretus the hints for some of Brutus’ speeches, but his loans from his predecessor do not affect the argument.
118. But, as usual, Pescetti fails to take full advantage of this motif. During the wordy progress of the drama we lose sight of Antony, and only a few lines at the end suggest him as the Nemesis of the conspirators.
119. See section on Portia.
120. In regard to Antony and the Popilius Lena episode.
121. In Muretus she has no place in the action. Brutus refers to her in his soliloquy: Act II., lines 107 ff.
- Brutus—
- “. . . Haec parum si te movent,
Tua jam, vir ut sis, te satis conjux monet,
Fidem cruore quae tibi obstrinxit suam,
Testata sic se avunculi prolem tui.
Si ab exequendis te avocat coeptis timor,
Animusque pigro torpet ignavus gelu,
Ex femina perdisce, quid deceat virum.”
This is the only reference to Portia throughout the drama. Grévin makes no mention of her, while Garnier, in his “Porcie” (1568) treats of events following the death of Caesar.
122. I know of but two notices of these scenes, neither being much more than a mere mention. Neri says: “Su tutte ancora primeggia il Cesare d’Orlando Pescetti, che per il rilievo della figura di Bruto, tratta da Plutarco—vedi la bella scena di Porzia nel secondo atto, etc.” (La Tragedia italiana nel Cinquecento, Ferdinando Neri, Firenze, 1904, p. 158.) It is also referred to by Emilio Bertana in “La tragedia,” Milano, 1904, p. 75 ff.
123. Plutarch notes that she was of a “noble courage.”
124. That is, Fortune.
125. Marcus Brutus, p. 116. Skeat.
In the “Julius Caesar” of Sir William Alexander, (Earl of Stirling) written a few years after Shakespeare’s play, there is a decided similarity between some portions of the Brutus-Portia scenes and those in Pescetti. The prologue seems an echo of Pescetti’s. Nor do these portions have anything verbally in common with Seneca, the model of both tragedies. See Conclusion, page 121.
126. Many of the motifs of the Calpurnia-Nurse scene in Pescetti are derived from Muretus. Others are reminiscent of Grévin.
127. Malone long ago suggested that this scene probably refers to the popularity of the play on the stage, and that it points to other contemporary dramas on the same subject. Prolegomena, II, ff. 448–9. Ed. 1823. Prof. Sykes sees in it a dramatic device to emphasize the reality of the presentation. “Julius Caesar” note, page 142.
128. “Connections between the Drama of France and Great Britain, particularly in the Elizabethan Period.” Harvard Dissertation, 1900 (unpublished), quoted by Ayres.
129. Alexander’s Prologue is the first act of the drama. Juno delivers a long monologue and the chorus closes the act. In Muretus, Caesar and the chorus occupy the first act. In Grévin, it is Caesar, Antony and the Chorus of Soldiers. In Pescetti, the Prologue is separate, but like in Alexander the actors therein do not appear in the drama proper.
130. Of the above only the fact that the conspiracy was revealed to her is recorded by Plutarch in this connection.
131. Fortune.
132. Alexander, in his younger days, travelled in France, Spain and Italy. He was high in the favor of James VI. of Scotland and accompanied him to London in 1603, where he became an intimate of Prince Henry. That he was well and favorably known to the authors of the day may be inferred from the dedication of a sonnet to him by Michael Drayton.
133. In Shakespeare Soc. Pub., 1874, p. 357. Also his Life of Shakespeare, 1886, p. 215–6.
134. The allusion to the phrase Act III, Sc. 1.
This originally stood:
“Caesar did never wrong but with just cause” and is ridiculed by Jonson in his “Discoveries.” It is quite likely that the Caesar in the play as originally written was an even more self-important individual than he is at present. Possibly Shakespeare saw no absurdity in the line when he first penned it. Caesar, in his own estimation, is semi-divine. The cause of things is in his will. What might seem wrong to the mob was not so to Caesar, for he felt that the cause was just, no matter what the world thought. That was sufficient. The apparent contradiction in terms thus seems capable of explanation.
135. Appendix to Vol. IV of the Cambridge History of English Literature. Also M. A. Scott, Elizabethan Translations from the Italian. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Pub., X. to XIV., 1895–99.
136. Sidney Lee, The French Renaissance in England, 1910. Phoebe Sheavyn, The Literary Profession in the Elizabethan Age, 1909.
137. Shakespeare: A Critical Study, George Brandes—London, William Heineman, 1902, p. 444–45.
138. “Relazioni Litterarie fra Italia e Inghilterra,” Florence, 1911. Reviewed in article, “The Italian Sources of Othello,” by Ethel M. de Fonblanque, Fortnightly Review, Nov., 1911, p. 907.
139. Ethel M. de Fonblanque in Fortnightly Review, Nov., 1911.
140. “Studies in Shakespeare.”
141. In his discussion of the state of the Italian drama during the sixteenth century, Symonds says: “At the same time, we may question whether the Despots would have welcomed tragic shows which dramatized their deeds of violence; whether they would have suffered the patriotism of a Brutus, the vengeance of Virginius, the plots of Catiline, or the downfall of Sejanus to be displayed with spirit-stirring pomp in the theatres of Milan and Ferrara, when conspiracies like that of Olgaiti were frequent.” John Addington Symonds, “The Renaissance in Italy, Italian Literature,” Vol. II., p. 119. Henry Holt & Co., 1888.
142. “The Monarchicke Tragedies” of Alexander by 1617 had gone through three editions, besides several single quartos.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
- Retained the blanks that the original Italian text often had before apostrophes.
- Inserted a blank before the apostrophe in front of the letter l, whenever the apostrophed ’l stands for il.
- Changed “προσέττατεν” to “προσέταττεν” in footnote 12.
- Added anchor after “—II., i, ll. 154–191.” for the first footnote[60] on p. 46.
- Changed “cosi” to “così” on p. 67.
- Changed “angurio” to “augurio” on p. 84.
- Silently corrected typographical errors.
- Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
The following corrections to obvious Italian misspellings in Boecker's text made by comparing excerpts with Pescetti's original (this copy).
- Changed “Secundo” to “secondo” on p. 1.
- Changed “ricchezze” to “ricchezze” on p. 16.
- Changed “Più che d’Orso, e de Tigre Ircana crudo” to “Più che d’Orso, e di Tigre Ircana crudo” on p. 17.
- Changed “E fù si grande del ferir la voglia Ricandosi” to “E fu sì grande del ferir la voglia Recandosi” on p. 24.
- Changed “Immenso regno, e sì gonfiato ha l’onde,” to “Immenso regno, e sì gonfiato hà l’onde,” on p. 30.
- Changed “Altri temer gran fatto, un’huom al ventre” to “Altri temer gran fatto, un’huomo al ventre” on p. 43.
- Changed “Sciogliam noi l’alma de’ corporei lacci.” to “Sciogliam noi l’alma da corporei lacci.” on p. 53.
- Changed “Ben t’esort’ io guardati de’ nemici.” to “Ben t’esort’ io guardarti de’ nemici.” on p. 61.
- Changed “Quest’ alta impresa il cielo, acciochè nulla” to “Quest’ alta impresa il cielo, acciocchè nulla” on p. 63.
- Changed “Non può salir, che del terreno incarco” to “Non può salir, chi del terreno incarco” on p. 66.
- Changed “Et ei conforme al merto suo nel propio” to “Et ei conforme al merto suo nel proprio” on p. 92.
- Changed “Non senza gran cagion stamane uscito” to “Non senza gran cagion stamane uscito” on p. 101.
- Changed “Ite, ò forti, ite ò saggi, te ò de gli alti” to “Ite, ò forti, ite ò saggi, ite ò de gli alti” on p. 107.
- Changed “te ò de gli alti Lenaggi,” to “ite ò de gli alti Legnaggi,” on p. 114.